The present application relates not only to a theft resistant apparatus (or “upstanding mount”) intended to adjustably hold aloft expensive electronic equipment or components thereof that are referred to herein as “costly devices”), but also to a method (namely a theft resistant manner of adjustably holding costly devices and the like aloft—for example a method that makes use of the upstanding mount disclosed herein).
The background discussion that follows begins by explaining how such patent documents as are referred to herein are pertinent to each other; and by explaining what is meant by some of the terms used herein.
The Clamp-On Base Case referenced above is an issued patent that discloses a base assembly designed to clamp securely onto an upper part of a massive concrete barrier segment such as the barrier segments that are positioned end to end and commonly used to separate lanes of traffic on interstate highways and the like. A clamp-on base assembly of the general type disclosed in this issued patent can be used by the upstanding mount disclosed in the present application to enhance the theft deterrence or the theft resistance of upstanding mounts such as the one disclosed herein.
The Padlockable Fastener Case referenced above is a pending application that discloses the use of padlockable tubular collars to block access to the typically hex or square tool-engageable formations of conventional fasteners such as bolts and nuts. The upstanding mount of the present invention can use padlockable tubular collars of the general type disclosed in the Padlockable Fastener Case to enhance the theft resistance of such upstanding mounts as the one disclosed herein.
The Total System Case referenced above is an application filed a few weeks ago that, like the present application, discloses a theft-resistant upstanding mount for adjustably supporting costly devices.
The Lockable Hitch Pin Patents referenced above disclose embodiments that are typical of many similar, commercially available, lockable hitch pins that typically include a headed hitch pin component that has an elongate stem that can be locked to a key-operated retainer component that can retain the hitch pin in place after it has been inserted through aligned holes defined by a hitch and a drawbar of a tractor or the like. Lockable hitch pins are used for many purposes, and are preferably used by the upstanding mount disclosed herein to lockably couple adjacent pairs of a telescopically extensible and retractable upstanding mast assembly, to thereby enhance the theft resistance of the upstanding mount.
Torque-Disconnect Coupler is a term used herein to refer to an assembly having two concentrically extending elements that both can turn about a common axis unless and until the elements are drivingly connected.
By way of a simple example, let one of two relatively turnable elements take the form of a cylindrical shaft; and, let the other element be a same-length piece of tubing that concentrically encircles the shaft element. The elements now can each be easily turned independently of the other about an imaginary center axis that extends along the length of the shaft element at a location in the middle of the shaft element. Add plastic caps on opposite ends of the tubular element thereby preventing the two relatively turnable elements from moving axially relative to each other. Now, drill a hole through a side wall of the tubular element, with the hole extending onward into the shaft element at least as far as the imaginary center axis. The two concentric elements can still turn freely relative to each other—except that, if you stick a pencil into the drilled hole, the pencil drivingly connects the two elements. Applying turning force or “torque” to either element will cause both elements to turn in unison because the elements are drivingly connected or “torque connected.” Removal of the inserted pencil returns the elements to a normally “torque disconnected” state, meaning that turning either element, or preventing either from turning, will have no influence on whether the other element turns, or cannot turn. Such is the nature of a so-called “torque-disconnect coupler.”
Costly Devices is another term used herein. In one respect, this term is intended to refer, in general, to costly electronic equipment (and components thereof)—such as is disclosed in the present application, and the Total System Case. However, this term also is intended to broadly include other types of costly equipment, apparatus or devices that may need to be supported at selected above-ground heights, or held aloft by ground-engageable upstanding mounts.
Both the Total System Case and the present application disclose upstanding mounts that have telescopically extensible masts intended to hold costly devices aloft at selected above-ground heights. Each of the upstanding mounts disclosed in the Total System Case and in the present application call for a bearing to be interposed between the extensible mast of the mount, and such costly device as may be carried by the mount. Both of the upstanding mounts gain a degree of theft resistance, or may be said to be more theft deterrent, due to the presence of the bearing. However, the upstanding mounts disclosed in these two applications differ in that, whereas the upstanding mount of the Total System Case is preferably supplied with a costly spherical type of bearing (to perform a leveling function), the upstanding mount of the present invention can use a variety of types of bearings.
Both types of costly devices (i.e., one type is shown in the Total System Case, and another in the present application) have several similarities. Both are held aloft (i.e., at selected above-ground heights) so that the costly devices can send control signals (or data and other information) to electronic control units carried on heavy mobile machinery such as bulldozers and road graders operating within a few miles of the temporary installation sites of the upstanding mounts. Both types are similar in that they are well-built, compact and lightweight products of such entities as Trimble Navigation Limited of Sunnyvale, Calif.—and, yet, these costly devices are delicate and need to be securely supported so they are not whipped about by high wind during inclement weather, nor are they damaged if the costly devices continue to be held aloft by upstanding mounts during times when the upstanding mounts are being lifted and moved by bulldozers (or similar heavy mobile equipment) from one temporary installation site to another.
The temporary installation sites where the upstanding mounts are stationed need to be carefully chosen. Such sites need to be out of the way of the operation of heavy excavation machinery and the like—and need to be stationed away from trees and other tall plants, sizable items of earthwork, man-made structures and the like—so that line-of-sight satellite signals can be received without interruption, and so that line-of-sight radio signals can be sent to and/or received from the heavy mobile excavation machinery without interruption.
Usually the chosen installation sites are on high ground, in clearings where the upstanding mounts are spaced well away from trees, man-made structures and the like—whereby the distinctively configured antennas and other held-aloft components often are visible for miles, and are easily recognized. Thieves who may be looking for these installation sites usually have little difficulty finding them.
As the reader can undoubtedly appreciate, the complex electronic equipment that is supported on upstanding mounts in clearings and on high ground frequently carries a price tag of twenty thousand dollars or more—and such costly devices have become choice targets of thieves. Thieves have learned that stolen equipment of this type usually can be sold profitably and with relative ease—for example to construction contractors who may have recently experienced a theft of such equipment, and who may be under pressure (and even somewhat desperate) to get expensive excavation machinery back into service, even if the machinery will be controlled by replacement electronic equipment obtained from those who perhaps have “acquired it” from other construction sites.
As is explained in the referenced Total System Case, the type of costly devices disclosed in that pending application have come to be stolen with such unbelievable regularity that one Florida contractor actually had seven installations of these costly devices stolen during a single workday from construction sites where the costly devices were in active use when the thefts took place. Even though measures obviously have needed to be taken to render installations of such costly devices more resistant to theft, about all that was being done to deter theft (at times prior to the introduction of such upstanding mounts as are disclosed in the referenced Total System Case) was to secure costly devices using lockable tether cables—cables that, unfortunately, have proved to be severable quickly and with relative ease by the use of bolt cutters or other portable cutting equipment.
At least some of the blame (for the ease with which costly devices have been stolen) is attributable to the out-of-the-way installation sites that often go unattended for many hours at a time—sites that are easily found by thieves who watch for the distinctive appearance of satellite and radio antennas, and other components of the costly devices that are held prominently aloft by upstanding supports stationed in clearings, often on high ground, and spaced well away from trees and buildings.
At least some of the blame (for the ease with which costly devices have been stolen) is also attributable to the simplistic and jerry-rigged nature of the upstanding mounts that have commonly been used to support the costly devices. Still in current-day use are simplistic mounts that use nothing more than a tall 4×4 wooden post (sometimes steadied by a few thin guy wires), with the lower end of the 4×4 post extending into a relatively shallow hole in the soil at an installation site where a costly device is to be held aloft on a temporary basis that may last only a few days before the costly device is moved to a new out-of-the-way installation site.
At least some of the blame (for the ease with which costly devices have been stolen) is further attributable to the simple manner in which antennas and other components of the costly devices are connected to the 4×4 wooden posts described just above. Antennas and other components that may need be held aloft are usually simply threaded onto an upstanding ⅝ inch diameter threaded stud that is connected to the top of the post—in much the same manner that present-day camera equipment is tightened onto the small diameter upstanding threaded stud of a tripod. The antennas and other costly components that are threaded onto the upstanding studs are simply loosened and unscrewed from the studs to effect their removal. Other components of the costly devices such base station electronic units (that do not need to be held aloft) are typically hung from one or more hooks attached to side surfaces of the 4×4 post, or, even more simply, are laid atop an overturned wooden crate together with a lead-acid battery that powers the equipment installation.
What all of this boils down to is the simple fact that there is hardly a sizable earthwork contractor in business today who has not had one or more installations of such costly devices as are disclosed either in the Total System Case or in the present application stolen—often from job sites where the costly devices were being actively used at the times of theft.
Accordingly, a pressing need very definitely exists for an improved upstanding mount that can be lifted and moved by a bull dozer or the like from one temporary out-of-the-way installation site to another, and that can be relied on to provide superior theft resistant support at selected above-ground heights for costly devices and components thereof—especially at temporary out-of-the-way locations that often are left unattended.